


Babel

by WhyWhyNot



Series: Three Wise Monkeys [13]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Blanket Permission, Child Abuse, Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional Relationships, Español | Spanish, Gen, Solitary Confinement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2019-11-15 13:54:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18074648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyWhyNot/pseuds/WhyWhyNot
Summary: Matt and Spanish in the Three Wise Monkeys verse





	1. Chapter 1

Lola's first language is spanish, and she teaches it to Matt. In the cages, after the searing pain of a brand, there are _hierro_ and _fuego_ and _quemadura_ , _comida_ and _hambre_ and _agua_ when they wait for meals that won't come, _monstruo_ and _bastardo_ and _gilipollas_ between the warden's mocking laughs. And then she tell him stories to escape the cages, and there are _maravillas_ and _temor_ and _aventura_ and at the end _los heroes ganan_ , and Matt can almost forget the pain and the stench.

\---

Lola is let out of the cage and Matt is left in, alone with the warden. Sometimes, he can hear her singing softly through the door, _hola hola como estas_ and _los pollitos dicen_ and _ahora que vamos despacio_ , and sometimes he thinks it's the only reason he's not going mad.

\---

Matt is out of the cage, but still trapped in Father's mind games, and sometimes, at night, Matt sneaks in Lola's room and listen as she invents poems without paper, and there are _cielo_ and _mar_ and _libertad_ , and it almost feels like they're alright. 

\---

Saint Agnes is cold. Cold floors, cold walls, cold in the nuns voices when they tell him off. There are no boiling water pouring along his back, no rotting body in a too hot basement, no feverish nights with throbbing wounds. 

(There are no stories, no songs, no poems, no warm hands holding his, no tap-tap of fingers on thighs to show an invisible smile.)

Saint Agnes is cold and sometimes, alone on his bed at night, Matt tunes on voices saying _tareas_ and _trabajo_ and _jugar_ , and remembers stolen moments of happiness.)

(He has nightmares about what Lola did, but she kept him together longer than she tore him apart.)

(No matter what she did, she is his sister still.)

\---

Matt learns mandarin at Columbia. It feels like it could be useful. 

He isn't fluent by any mean, but he can have basic conversations, and has a pretty good grasp on legal terms. It will do.

(It's better than Foggy's punjabi, anyway.)

\---

When Claire and Santino invites him to share a pie, there are _tarta_ and _manzana_ and _¡Buen provecho!_ , and Matt feels like he's finally going home.


	2. Chapter 2

The Tower of Babel

**Author's Note:**

> You can find the songs mentioned here:
> 
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PyUkEF1dHW4
> 
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iiHsqJUJ97M#searching
> 
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tK0vp8LlDiM


End file.
